


Summer, Love (and Bikinis)

by satuseppa



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Friends to Lovers, budding baekxing, established xiuchen, everyone is a girl except suho, everyone should love girls, i love girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 13:30:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9659465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satuseppa/pseuds/satuseppa
Summary: Chanyeol invites Kyungsoo to her father's house by the beach for the summer after graduation.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Nabisonyeo 2016, posting it half a year later because I sort of left fandom and forgot (sorry)
> 
> As always the most special thank you to my AU boyfriend, who beta'ed this fic for me tWICE because I'm the worst. I love you <3

Kyungsoo stares out into the calmness of the pool, the loud yelling of teammates, spectators, and coaches fading out of her mind. Her body remains completely still as her eyes zone into the 8 feet width of water that is just hers to swim in. Her breathing is even and calm as her mind slowly pictures every moment of the events she would soon face: The dive, the coldness of the water as her body slices through it, the muffled silence as she kicks underwater, the deafening roar of the crowd as she resurfaces. The swimming, the turn.

Pressing the goggles deeply into her eye sockets, Kyungsoo begins her pre-event ritual: hop five times on her right foot, then her left. Shake her arms over her head for a slow five count. Hop on both feet five times. Stretch her neck for a slow five count. Step up onto the block.

The 50 meter freestyle is her second best event, and she was hard pressed to make it to the finals this year. Her last year.

She’d done it the year before, missed placing on the podium by a hair.

Since then she’d trained harder and had beat the school record (her own record) twice in the past year alone.

Her toes curl around the edge of the block as she bends forward, gripping the edge tight when the sidelines fall silent, waiting for the starting pistol to go off. That tension, those few seconds just before that start, all of her muscles coiled tight, ready to burst out of the block and into the water - she thrives on it. 

The gun booms and Kyungsoo is in the water, fingers squeezed together, arms swinging, legs kicking, all 5 feet and 2 inches of her body willing through the burning of her muscles to propel her forward.

There is no pacing in the 50 meters free. There’s no real technique, no psyching the competitors in the other lanes out - just Kyungsoo and the water. Just swim as fast as her arms can spin around and her legs can kick.

She hits the wall and lifts her head out of the water just in time to see the two girls on either side of her touch the wall. The screaming crowd finally reaches her ears as she glances over at the time board, pulling her goggles over her head.

[Kyungsoo Do, 26.71 seconds.]

A personal best.

First in her heat, which safely qualifies her for nationals.

“Yes!”

Elated, Kyungsoo throws both fists into the air, splashing water into her face. She coughs and laughs in celebration as the rest of the swimmers in her heat reach the wall. Her chest heaves as her body seeks to expel the build-up of carbon dioxide, and she has no thoughts of suppressing the smile taking over her face.

She peels the swim cap off of her head and reaches over to shake hands with the girls in adjacent lanes. Kyungsoo had swam with the girl on her right for all four years of high school, and she feels a slight pang for her as Kyungsoo realizes that the girl has lost her last chance to qualify for Nationals. The girl on Kyungoo’s left is just a sophomore and Kyungsoo smiles, seeing herself in the fiery disappointment of the other's eyes. Arms feeling like noodles, Kyungsoo finally pulls herself out of the water. She hasn't even taken three steps away from the pool before someone excessively tall and skinny cages her in a rib-crushing embrace.

"Ahh!" Kyungsoo hears through stifled ears, and it's all she can do to hold on as Chanyeol starts jumping, twirling and yelling something that Kyungsoo can't quite comprehend.

"Youweresogooditwasfucking _crazy_ Icouldn'tbelievethepullyouweregettingfromthewater-" Chanyeol continues to shout enthusiastically as she lets go and pulls Kyungsoo by the arm away from the pool to the adjoining gym. She hands a still not-so-back-to-normal Kyungsoo her microfiber towel, laughing.

"Hold on- hold on-" Kyungsoo manages, and it's then that Chanyeol finally stops to let Kyungsoo catch her breath.

"Sorry, sorry, but you told me you wanted to be out of the room before the last heat starts so that you could concentrate on the 100 fly, remember?" Chanyeol says, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she watches Kyungsoo's breath slow.

"Anyway, I can't believe it! A personal record! Well, no, I should say I _can_ believe it, you're always in your element the more pressure there is- anyway-" Chanyeol squeezes Kyungsoo into another tight hug, which Kyungsoo returns this time. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Kyungsoo finally grins back, laughs. "Now it's your turn to go qualify. Shouldn't you be stretching?"

Chanyeol sticks out her tongue. "I already did, thank you very much." She glances to the side, where a line of swimmers are gathering by the pool entrance. "But yeah, I should get going." 

She takes off her oversized shirt and shorts and hands them to Kyungsoo, revealing the plain navy team suit with a white 'I,' for Immaculate High School, emblazoned on the hip. The two walk toward the line. Chanyeol gets in line behind a short, short girl who makes Chanyeol look even taller than usual, and Kyungsoo laughs. Chanyeol good-naturedly rolls her eyes.

"Wish me luck!"

"You don't need it. But good luck."

Chanyeol waves the swim cap and goggles at Kyungsoo as the line for the 100 meter breaststroke starts moving. Kyungsoo reciprocates the action as she always does, swim cap and goggles hanging from her fingertips, lips in a tight line that quickly shifts into a grin.

If Kyungsoo stretches as efficiently as possible, she could make it back to see Chanyeol's heat. She jogs back into the gym, intent to do just that.

-

Chanyeol barely makes it out of the playing pen - qualifying second to last for nationals in her two breaststroke events. Chanyeol, who has never been as competitive about swimming as Kyungsoo, seems ecstatic just to have made it. Kyungsoo also makes it to nationals in her best event, the 100m butterfly, easily. They’re two of only four people in their high school to qualify this time around.

The bus on the way back home from the meet is rowdy: the freshmen girls, most of whom were just tagging along to cheer for those who made it to states, shout-sing the newest Taylor Swift song, while rest of the girls engage in loud conversation to try and hear themselves over the out-of-tune cacophony. Every five minutes or so there is a round of applause and cheers for the three girls who made it to nationals.

"Fuck _YES_!!!" Chanyeol shouts above them all during one of these cheers, her voice loud and piercing, words drawn out for emphasis. "Nationals, baby!"

Cheeks shining, her still-wet and braided hair leaving two wet spots on her shirt, Chanyeol plops down on the seat next to Kyungsoo.

"That's like the fifth time, isn't your throat getting tired?"

"Never!" Chanyeol shouts, grabbing Kyungsoo's hands and forcing the girl's arms to shake in the air as she once again crows, "Nationals, baby!"

Kyungsoo can't help but laugh at her best friend's enthusiasm, and lets out a small whoop of her own. "Yeah!"

Seemingly satisfied with this, Chanyeol pulls her too-long legs onto the bus seat, wrapping her arms around them. The bus is still loud, but in the back corner where they're sitting, there's just enough privacy for them to have a proper conversation.

"You should come to my dad's place with me this summer after graduation."

It's so out of the blue that Kyungsoo almost forgets- "Wait, in California?"

Chanyeol snorts.

"No, my other dad's place in my back pocket."

Kyungsoo rolls her eyes and hits Chanyeol's arm, causing Chanyeol to lose grip of her legs. Her feet land on the floor with a loud 'thud'.

"Ow," she whines, picking her legs back up to their previous position. "Yes, California. He's been wanting to meet you, and it'll be like, our last hurrah before college, you know?"

Kyungsoo nods. Chanyeol is right - they were headed in different directions after graduation, with Kyungsoo headed to Texas A&M with a swimming scholarship and Chanyeol back to her home state in California with an early action acceptance to CalTech.

"Come on, Kyungsoo," Chanyeol interrupts Kyungsoo's thoughts, "Dad has a pool in his backyard, and the house is literally a 10 minute walk from the beach. And I swear, it looks just like it does in the movies." Chanyeol tilts her head to the side, puppy eyes turned up to 10. "You can meet all my old friends, learn how to surf- oh, you'd totally lose your beach virginity!"

Kyungsoo rolls her eyes. It isn’t her fault she was born and raised in the land locked state of Colorado. But the idea is tempting, and soon she's picturing herself waking up in the morning and going on a jog on the beach, then for a dip in the ocean. Chanyeol picks up on this immediately, and starts begging. "Please, please, please, please-"

"I mean, I'd have to ask my parents for permission, but okay. But-" Kyungsoo holds up a finger before she loses Chanyeol to more cheering, "this is still tentative, okay? It's only March, so who knows what could happen?"

Chanyeol sits still, but with her already large eyes wide open, jaws clenched, body tense and ready to spring at any second. Kyungsoo is suddenly reminded of a well-trained, overly excited puppy who has been told to stay.

"Okay, you can celebrat-"

"WOO!" The puppy is let loose, jumping in her seat and throwing her hands wildly in the air.

Once again, Kyungsoo is swept away in Chanyeol's enthusiasm.

"Yeah! California, baby!"

-

Kyungsoo was a junior with eyes that constantly burned with competition the day she met Chanyeol in the school pool. She had heard rumors all day of the new girl from California, who had long flowing black hair with sun-bleached highlights and a body like a model. When the swim coach pulled her aside to tell her that the new 'model' was trying out for the swim team, the first thought in Kyungsoo's mind was 'hell no'.

"She's going to mess up the dynamic of the team, Coach, practice started two weeks ago, we've already got a good idea of the line up for the season-"

"Our first meet isn't for another week."

"And I mean, if she's anything like the rumors I've heard about her then she's going to be a distraction-"

"Part of your duties as captain, Kyungsoo, is to give everybody a chance. Even the ones that come with a mountain of rumors. I’ve heard really great things about her swimming, she could be a missing piece to our team's success."

Later that afternoon, as Kyungsoo stood by the pool, stretching, Chanyeol first walked into her life.

The rumors were pretty much true: from the sun-bleached highlighted hair, currently tied up in a messy bun, to the tan, long, long limbs that screamed 'California bombshell'.

Kyungsoo watched, mouth just the slightest bit ajar, as the girl walked toward her."Kyungsoo, right? The captain?"Chanyeol's smile was like the sun, her teeth bright. Kyungsoo could practically smell the sunshine and ocean off of her.

“Yeah- um, Chanyeol, right? You’re going to try out today?”

“Yep, the coach said he only wanted to see my best stroke, so hopefully it won’t take long and I won’t take too much practice time.”

Chanyeol’s voice was huskier than Kyungsoo anticipated, and for some reason that made her warm up to the girl a little more. She shook Chayeol's outstretched hand before standing up to join her. Kyungsoo barely came up to Chanyeol's shoulders, but she tried hard not to notice.

"What stroke do you swim?"

"Breaststroke." Chanyeol waved her arms around in circles, a rough imitation of the stroke on land. "I swam the 100m breaststroke and the 500m free back in my old high school."

Kyungsoo's eyes widened slightly. "Oh." Chanyeol's strongest events were her weakest - maybe the coach was right. 

"Yep." Chanyeol replied, showing no signs of Kyungsoo’s realization. “You’re supposed to be like the goddess of sprints and butterfly, right? I actually read about you in this article before I moved here. I was really impressed and excited to meet you, actually- I can’t believe you’re only 5’2’’! And so fast!” Kyungsoo notices that the longer Chanyeol talks the more excited she seemed to get, and farther away from finishing her thought. 

“Thanks. It’s not, really…that much of a big deal…”

“It is though! I mean, I love swimming but I always got yelled at by my old coach for not taking it seriously enough-” She hiked her voice up an octave in an imitation of her old coach, Kyungsoo assumed, “‘Swimming could open up so many doors for you if you only tried harder and pushed yourself!’ So I have a lot of respect for swimmers who have the dedication that I don’t have to take it to the next level.” 

Kyungsoo bit her lower lip, embarrassed. “Ah, well. Thank you.” 

Chanyeol talked about everything, like an open book for the next five minutes as they stretched, preparing themselves for the water. In that time Kyungsoo learned of the messy divorce that caused Chanyeol to move across two states during her junior year, her favorite tv shows, and her impressions of Colorado so far (lots of mountains, kind of cold, but the people are nicer.) Although Kyungsoo was always an advocate for silent stretching so that she could concentrate on what she wanted to get out of practice, she found that Chanyeol’s husky voice was pretty soothing to listen to.

Warm-ups went smoothly, and before long, the coach pulled Kyungsoo out of her interval training to watch Chanyeol’s breaststroke in the outside lane. 

“Feeling good?” The coach asked Chanyeol as she stepped up to the block. Chanyeol gave both the coach and Kyungsoo a thumbs up. 

“Ready when you are,” she replied, bending forward to grip the edge of the block. 

The coach blew his whistle and Kyungsoo watched, amazed as the girl dove into the water. Chanyeol jetted across the surface in a speed Kyungsoo had never seen in the school pool before. Her reach was incredible, her kicks strong, her flips efficient, and when she reached the wall, Kyungsoo was speechless.

“1 minute, 27.31 seconds.” The coach said, his words echoing across the pool. It was then Kyungsoo realized that the rest of the team had stopped swimming to watch Chanyeol as well. “That's well within a second of the school record.”

“Oh wow, that was actually one of my best times ever,” Chanyeol said, almost as shocked as the rest of the team. She laughed. 

“Well, welcome to the team, Chanyeol Park,” the coach laughed as well, offering her a hand and pulling Chanyeol out of the pool. “And breaststroke is no longer our weakest stroke.” 

Although Kyungsoo felt a little miffed about that statement, she had to agree. Chanyeol could lift some of the pressure off of Kyungsoo to be an all around swimmer and let her focus on her specialized events. 

It was with genuine intent that she finally offered Chanyeol a handshake. “I am so, so glad I no longer have to swim breaststroke ever again,” she said, and Chanyeol straightened her shoulders in exaggeration. 

“Glad to be of service.” 

\- 

The plane ride is just over two hours, but it’s exciting to be crossing into a different timezone. Kyungsoo sits on an aisle seat wishing she could look out the window for a glimpse of the ocean, but Chanyeol had insisted they shut the window. That way, Kyungsoo could truly experience the ocean for the first time when she was up close. Kyunsoo's neck is bothering her and she tries to stretch it out, but the seats are cramped and she doesn't have the leverage she wants to get a proper stretch. 

"What's wrong?" 

Kyungsoo turns to see that Chanyeol has woken up from her nap and is watching Kyungsoo with concern. 

"My neck..." 

"Scoliosis?" Chanyeol sits up, pulls her earbuds out and puts them down on the table in front of her. 

"I think so, I think I've been sitting crooked or something." Kyungsoo tries one more time to stretch out her neck, and winces as her body complains against the action. 

"Wait, hold on, I got you." Chanyeol lifts the arm of the seat between them and turns toward Kyungsoo, grabbing her shoulders to guide her until she is facing the aisle. 

"Tilt your head to the side." Kyungsoo listens, and is immediately met with heavy pressure and dull pain as Chanyeol presses her thumbs down hard on the tension spots on Kyungsoo’s neck and shoulder. 

"Ow, ow," Kyungsoo complains, but doesn't push Chanyeol away as she slowly feels the strain in her neck subdue a few degrees. 

Chanyeol wordlessly continues to massage Kyungsoo's neck until Kyungsoo pulls away and sits back into the chair, smiling slightly. 

"Better?" Chanyeol grins, as if it wasn't something she'd done for Kyungsoo multiple times since their friendship blossomed. 

"Like always. Thanks." Kyungsoo pats Chanyeol's knee and Chanyeol, for the tenth time since graduation, gives Kyungsoo a rundown of California: the friends she'll meet, the activities planned, the ocean, the sun. And although Kyungsoo usually doesn't like being told the same thing multiple times, the excitement dripping in every word of Chanyeol's voice is enough to keep Kyungsoo interested for the rest of the flight. 

\- 

In the midst of all the screaming, hugging, and yelling, the first sentence that registers in Kyungsoo’s ears is, “You’re so _pale_!” 

“Well it’s not like I can hang out on the beach to tan!” Chanyeol yells back, hitting one of the two friends that had come to greet them. Kyungsoo stands nervously, to the side of her luggage and the third person who had come to meet them; a man even taller than Chanyeol and oozing California from his pores, just like Chanyeol had been two years ago. 

The friend who was hit whines, “ _Ow_!” and hits Chanyeol back. Chanyeol retaliates, and they’re screaming again, chasing each other in the middle of the airport. 

“But are you going to introduce us to Kyungsoo or what?” The other friend says, impervious to the hitting match of the other two. Chanyeol immediately drops the chase and runs over to Kyungsoo. 

“Ah! Sorry, Baekhyun is always so mean to me!” Chanyeol whines, before grabbing Kyungsoo’s hand and pulling her over to the three people that came to meet them. 

“Okay.” Chanyeol points to the taller friend. “This is Sehun. She’s the one that’s going to teach you how to surf, if you’re still interested.” Sehun waves and gives Kyungsoo a sweet smile. “This is Baekhyun, the mean one.” Baekhyun mock gasps, ‘offended’ written all over her features. “Don’t listen to anything she says,” Baekhyun counters, reaching forward to give Kyungsoo a tight hug. “I promise you I’m Chanyeol’s nicest _and_ coolest friend.” Kyungsoo laughs, deciding to accept the overt friendliness of the other. Kyungsoo thinks she would’ve been able to pick Baekhyun out as Chanyeol’s best friend in a lineup of 200 people. 

“She wishes,” Chanyeol says, nose scrunched. She then turns Kyungsoo toward the older man. “And this is my dad, the man who is going to house us for the next two months.” 

“Call me Josh. It’s so nice to meet you, finally,” Josh says, leaning over to give Kyungsoo a hug as well. “I’ve heard many good things about you.” 

“Ah, nice to meet you too,” Kyungsoo says, bowing slightly as she pulls away. She turns toward Sehun and Baekhyun. “And you two as well, of course.” 

The three Californian girls once again break into catch-up mode as the group heads toward Josh’s car. Kyungsoo comfortably follows along in silence, listening in on the conversation. 

“Aw, you’re kinda shy!” Baekhyun observes in a moment of brief silence, as the car pulls out of the airport parking lot. “I would’ve never guessed someone as loud as Chanyeol could befriend someone so…not loud.” 

Kyungsoo bites her bottom lip. “I mean, I think it works. If there are two loud people then you could both be talking to each other but neither of you could be listening…You know?” 

Sehun bursts out into laughter on the other side of Baekhyun, scaring Kyungsoo. “Oh my god, I know exactly what you mean. I have actually witnessed Baekhyun and Chanyeol talking about two different things at the same time and not known if they were even listening to each other.” 

“Yeah, well at least we have you to listen to both of us,” Baekhyun interjects, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“Yeah, Sehun and _Yixing_ ,” Chanyeol calls from the front seat, turning to face the three girls in the back. The car explodes into another round of screaming. 

“I am not! We’re not-!” Baekhyun squeaks, cheeks turning red. 

“By immediately jumping to ‘we’re not’ when we didn’t say anything of the sort, you’re kind of saying ‘we are’,” Sehun cackles, and grabs at the hand that comes flying in her direction. 

“Look how red she is!” Chanyeol teases, before turning to look over the other side of her seat, allowing her to peek at Kyungsoo. “Yixing is my old school’s very own ‘CAP’.” 

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrow. “What’s a ‘CAP’?” 

“Chinese-American Princess,” Sehun interjects, physically holding Baekhyun down into her lap to be able to join in on Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s conversation. “A daughter of a rich Chinese immigrant family who is frequently spoiled with really nice clothes, jewelry, cars, et cetera.” 

Baekhyun finally fights Sehun off of her and sits up, face redder than ever. “Yixing’s not-” 

“Yixing’s a really nice CAP though,” Chanyeol says over Baekhyun. “Usually CAPs have a really negative stereotype, like they’re super materialistic or self-obsessed, but Yixing is super down to earth. She just has nice stuff so we call her that out of love.” 

“Her parents wanted her to have a proper social upbringing so they sent her to public school instead of some fancy private one,” Baekhyun says, and even Kyungsoo can feel the affection flowing from Baekhyun as she talks about Yixing. 

“You’re going to meet her later today, actually,” Chanyeol continues. “She’s hosting the first of many graduation parties that’s gonna happen this summer, and she personally invited you so we have to go.” 

“Oh, wow.” Kyungsoo feels slightly overwhelmed at being thrown into this situation, and as if sensing this, Chanyeol reaches over her seat to rest her hand on Kyungsoo’s knee. 

“It’ll be fun! I promise I won’t make you meet every single person, and she has this beautiful house that directly overlooks the beach. You don’t want to miss it, even if it’s just for the view.” 

The image of a beautiful house looking over the beach does catch Kyungsoo’s attention, and she nods. “Okay, yeah. Let’s go.” 

The three other girls cheer and clap. Kyungsoo drops her head and smiles into her lap. 

“Plus, you don’t want to miss Baekhyun and Yixing falling over themselves to try and flirt with-” Sehun’s words get cut off as Baekhyun attacks her, throwing her arms over the taller girl to cover her mouth. 

“Hey, Kyungsoo, you should look out the window.” Josh’s words capture Kyungsoo’s attention over the screaming girls, and Kyungsoo looks out of her window to see the ocean for the very first time in her life. 

The clarity of the water is astonishing. Kyungsoo’s mouth falls open as she tries to take in the vastness of the ocean in front of her, extending without interruption to the horizon. She’s suddenly reminded of how people once believed that the earth was flat, and she can suddenly understand why. The waves pull in and out of the beach, falling over one another in a dance of sorts. The sand, sparkling under the bright California sun, looks warm and welcoming. 

There are already dozens of people out on the beach, and Kyungsoo can’t think of anything else but how nice it must be to enjoy something so large and amazing on a regular basis. 

\- 

The Park house is beautiful, with two floors, light blue in color and much humbler than some of the large, decadent beach houses that decorate the coast line. The house feels like a home rather than some architectural magazine spread, and Kyungsoo feels her heart warm up to it instantly. 

“There’s a guest room that you can stay at but you’re also more than welcome to stay in my room. I have a big bed so there’s plenty of room for both of us,” Chanyeol says as they carry their suitcases into the house. Kyungsoo’s eyes gaze over the charming interior of the front hallway. Josh offers to carry their suitcases upstairs and the girls graciously accept. 

“I won’t be offended if you want to stay in the guest room by the way, I know you introverts need personal space and all that.” Chanyeol laughs, and grabs Kyungsoo’s hand to lead her through the rest of the house. 

“Yeah, I think that might be better, especially since I’ll be here for a while,” Kyungsoo agrees. 

“Good, because that’s what I told my dad you’d say. This is the living room...kitchen...Dad’s office,” Chanyeol lists as they walk past each room, and Kyungsoo’s eyes are wide as she follows along, trying to absorb everything she can. 

“This is our tiny backyard that is basically just the pool...the first floor bathroom.” Kyungsoo wants to stop and take a longer look at everything but Chanyeol’s grip on her hand is tight so she just lets herself be pulled up the stairs. 

“Dad’s room, he has his own bathroom so you don’t have to worry about sharing.” Chanyeol stops at one of the doors. “And this is my room.” Kyungsoo looks to Chanyeol’s face and sees that she suddenly looks nervous. “You have to promise not to laugh, because I have literally not redecorated this room since I was in, like, fifth grade or something.” 

“Yeah, sounds good.” 

Chanyeol makes Kyungsoo promise one more time before she opens the door. Kyungsoo bites her tongue to keep from reacting as large posters of Zac Efron circa High School Musical and other teen Disney stars from that era greet her. 

“Oh, my god, it’s worse than I remember,” Chanyeol groans, sinking to the ground. 

“It’s- it’s fine, I’m sure everyone was into Zac Efron when they were really young.” Kyungsoo tries, patting her mortified friend on the back. 

“I’m taking these down as soon as I get my stuff upstairs,” Chanyeol says, determined, as she pushes Kyungsoo and herself out of the room and shuts the door. “Let me show you your room instead.” 

The guest room is modest but beautiful, with large windows that face the backyard. Kyungsoo can’t help but jump into her temporary bed, giggling as Chanyeol watches. 

“I’m going to assume that means you like it,” Chanyeol beams, leaning against the door frame. 

“Yes, oh my god, I’m so happy you invited me.” Kyungsoo bounces on the bed to emphasize her point. 

“And I’m happy that you could come,” Chanyeol says, before pulling out her phone to look at it. “Okay. Sehun and Baekhyun want us to meet them at this really awesome ice cream store before we go to the party in like an hour. That sound good to you?” 

Kyungsoo nods, getting off the bed and lifting her suitcase on top of it. “So what, like forty minutes to unpack?” 

“Yep.” Chanyeol leaves then turns around to stick her head back in the door. “And just wear your suit and bring your towel, okay? I have a bag for both of us and that’s much less work than trying to carry a whole bunch of stuff.” 

“Got it.” 

\- 

Kyungsoo sits on the kitchen stool, feet dangling off the edge and a water cup in her hand when Chanyeol walks into the room and promptly freezes. 

“What are you wearing?” Chanyeol looks mildly horrified, and Kyungsoo stands up, confused. 

“My swimsuit?” She turns her head to look at the back of her suit - maybe she missed a hole or something? 

“That’s…not even a bikini?” Chanyeol asks, incredulous. “That’s literally your team suit?” 

“...So?” Kyungsoo holds her arms across her chest. A nervous laugh escapes her lips. 

“So, have you never seen a beach movie before?” Chanyeol walks forward, putting her phone and an oversized beach purse down on the kitchen island. “Nobody wears a one piece competitive suit at the beach.” She then pulls her sheer orange cover-up over her head, revealing a cute, white, and quite skimpy bikini underneath. 

Kyungsoo’s mouth goes a little dry. 

“I…um. Don’t own one of those.” Kyungsoo scratches her ear. 

“What?!” Once again Chanyeol is grabbing Kyungsoo’s hand, pulling her up the staircase and into Kyungsoo’s temporary room. “You’re going to change, and we’re going shopping instead of meeting up with Sehun and Baekhyun.” 

“But-” Kyungsoo starts. 

“But what? You’re in California, about to spend two months on the beach, and I _refuse_ to let you go to a party wearing the team suit.” Chanyeol faces Kyungsoo, who still feels a little skeptical about the whole thing. “Trust me, Kyungsoo. There’s nothing wrong with showing it off a little, and I promise you’ll stick out more wearing a competition suit than a bikini.” 

Kyungsoo considers the options for a moment, then finally sighs in acceptance. This was supposed to be her last adventure before college, after all. “Okay, _fine_. But I get to choose the suit.” 

“Yes!” Chanyeol hisses and Kyungsoo rolls her eyes, half a smile on her face. 

“I left my phone downstairs so I’ll wait for you there, I’m going to text Baekhyun and Sehun that we’re not going to meet up with them,” Chanyeol calls back before she skips out of the room. “Be fast!” 

\- 

Shopping has always been a hobby of Chanyeol’s, and through two years of exposure Kyungsoo has come to appreciate the social aspect of hanging out at a mall. What she still hasn’t gotten used to, however, is Chanyeol trying to make her try on everything under the sun. 

“No, no, no.” Kyungsoo says for what seems like the 50th time, and Chanyeol pouts at Kyungsoo, then at the small handful of swimwear hanging from her hand. 

“Why not?” Chanyeol whines, waving a neon orange flower patterned number in Kyungsoo’s direction. "This one is _so_ cute, it would look so good on you.” 

“No way, that’s _so_ bright. And, like, flowery.” Kyungsoo scrunches her nose at it, almost as if offended. 

Chanyeol sticks out her tongue. “It was worth a try.” She walks up and down the aisles, hanging the swimsuits back where they belong. She pauses midway, and with a mischievous grin, pulls out another suit for Kyungsoo to see. 

“How about this one?” 

Kyungsoo’s eyes almost pop out of her head at what could only be described as a contraption of strings in Chanyeol’s hands. Chanyeol bursts into laughter, pointing at Kyungsoo. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks in disbelief, walking forward to hold the contraption in her own hands. “How do people even wear this?” 

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Chanyeol says, hanging the suit back into its place. “You can get away with almost anything with the right amount of confidence.” 

Kyungsoo shakes her head, bewildered. “Wow.” 

It’s about half an hour and two stores into the bikini search that Kyungsoo first sees one that hangs down to cover her stomach. 

“What’s this?” Kyungsoo asks, and Chanyeol pops out from the other side of the aisle. 

“Oh, you could wear a tankini, if you wanted to.” 

Kyungsoo fingers the turquoise patterned fabric. “Do a lot of people wear tankinis?” 

Chanyeol laughs. “Kyungsoo, since when do you care what other people wear?” 

“Since they’re your friends and I don’t want to look like the odd Coloradan out…And if I’m gonna get a bikini for the beach, I’m not gonna go half-way.” Kyungsoo tightens her lips into a straight line and lets go of the tankini. 

Chanyeol smiles. “Well I mean, my friends won’t care what you wear, they just want to meet you. And those who do probably aren’t my friends to start. You should really try on a bikini and see how you feel before you make the final decision.” 

The two finally separate to cover more ground three stores later, with plans to meet up by the fitting room in ten minutes with whatever they find. Tired out and just about ready to go to the party with the competition suit, tacky or not, Kyungsoo settles on a plain black bikini and heads toward the back of the store. 

Chanyeol is waiting with a few bathing suits in her hands, but it’s the one on top that makes Kyungsoo laugh. 

“Oh, wow.” 

Chanyeol looks up from her phone, and Kyungsoo holds out her single bikini choice, a replica of the one Chanyeol has in her hand. Chanyeol’s face brightens and she holds the swimsuit out, as if confirming the exactness of their choices. 

“That’s a sign. You gotta try this one on.” 

Kyungsoo makes a pained face but she agrees, sliding the lock to the door and pulling her dress over her head. It takes just a minute for her to tie the knots of her bikini, but twice as long as she considers herself in the mirror. 

She had made peace with her scoliosis so long ago. Sure it was noticeable when she stared hard at her shoulders and it sometimes came accompanied with neck pain. But the unnatural curvature of her spine made her a natural in the water when it came to the butterfly and she had accepted at age thirteen that yes, she may look a little odd, but no one could chase her down in her favorite stroke. And that was what made it all worth it. 

But standing there with two tiny pieces of fabric covering her body, Kyungsoo has never hated her scoliosis more. Her shoulders look more crooked than ever and she can even see the unevenness of her hips, accentuated by the ribbons on each side of the bikini bottom. When she turns around, she’s convinced that she can even see with her naked eye the way her spine curves 23 degrees to the right. 

“Kyungsoo? You alright there?” Chanyeol’s voice breaks through Kyungsoo’s thoughts and she tears her eyes away from the mirror, to the door. 

“Um, yeah.” Her eyes fall back to her image on the mirror and she tilts her head. “I don’t know if I like this. It’s like...really impractical and…I don’t think I look good.” 

“What? No way, I bet you look great, show me.” Kyungsoo hears scraping sounds from the other side of the door. 

“I don’t know, Chanyeol…” 

“Come on, Kyungsoo, please? You have to at least show me before you actually decide against it. Please?” 

Kyungsoo can practically see Chanyeol’s patented puppy eyes in her voice and with a grimace and never being able to say no to Chanyeol’s puppy eyes, unlocks the door to her fitting room stall. 

Chanyeol pops herself in eagerly, shutting the door before turning around to face Kyungsoo. She blinks as her eyes fall on Kyungsoo and they widen, her mouth falling open slightly. And although Kyungsoo’s fairly certain Chanyeol is playing it up to make her feel better, she can’t help but drop her gaze and feel herself blush. 

“Holy shit…Kyungsoo…” Chanyeol lets out a half laugh, scratching her forehead. “You-you look _really_ good.” 

“Shut up, you’re just saying that,” Kyungsoo responds automatically, reaching across her body to grab her own shoulder. 

“No, I’m _really_ not,” Chanyeol half laughs again, stepping back against the door. She scratches her arm. “Kyungsoo, you look fucking _amazing_. You have to get this suit.” 

Kyungsoo turns around to look at herself in the mirror again. “But my shoulders-” 

“You can’t tell. I swear.” Chanyeol holds up her hands. “It’s literally not even a thing I see when I look at you.” 

Kyungsoo glances back at her shoulders, still slightly doubtful. 

“I swear on my _life_ , Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol steps forward, puts two reassuring hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders. “Literally all I see right now is your- skin, and how muscular and toned your legs and arms and stomach are…” Chanyeol drops her hands, and Kyungsoo thinks she sees the other girl wipe them surreptitiously on her cover up. 

Kyungsoo tries to see what Chanyeol sees. Okay, true, years of swimming did have a positive effect on her body…but, “How do you even swim in this? It’s so impractical, I feel like I’m naked.” 

“I’ll re-tie the strings for you. Make them tighter. They actually hold up a lot better than you think. And I _swear_ , once you’re on the beach and everyone else is dressed like you, it’ll feel normal.” Chanyeol nods reassuringly, and with a bite on the inside of her cheek, Kyungsoo considers herself convinced. 

“Okay. This is me, in California, seizing the moment. Right?” 

“Right!” 

\- 

Yixing’s house is everything that Kyungsoo imagined a Californian house by the ocean would look like and more. Situated over a cliff and directly overlooking the ocean like Chanyeol had said, Yixing’s house is exactly one that would be featured in an architectural magazine. Kyungsoo fights the urge to let her mouth hang open as Chanyeol drives past the security gate and parks in the huge driveway like it was just another house. 

“I know, right?” Chanyeol says, laughing at the look on Kyungsoo’s face. “I’m only like this because I’ve known Yixing since middle school.” 

“What the fuck,” is Kyungsoo’s only reply, and Chanyeol laughs again. 

“Maybe Yixing will give you a tour once she can relax hostess duties.” The two get out of the car to the sound of dozens of people and music. Kyungsoo blinks quickly and tucks her hair behind her ear, shoulders hunched. Her fingers cling to the car door an extra second too long. 

Chanyeol takes a hold of Kyungsoo’s hand and gives her a reassuring squeeze. “No worries, I promise I won’t leave you to sink on your own.” Kyungsoo squeezes back, the churning in her stomach quelled for now. 

Yixing, a gracious host, immediately welcomes Kyungsoo to her party, and while Chanyeol stops to catch up with a houseful of friends (with Kyungsoo’s blessing), takes it upon herself to introduce Kyungsoo to each of the guests. 

There are people that are friends with Chanyeol, people who don’t really know Chanyeol, and the names and faces are already blurred in Kyungsoo’s head as Yixing leads them out to the pool. There’s a few people swimming, but more are either swaying to the music, lying around in lounge chairs, or sitting in the jacuzzi. 

“Jongdae, Minseok, this is Kyungsoo, Chanyeol’s best friend from Colorado.” Yixing stops in front of two tiny girls sharing a lounge chair. The girls pause their giggling and whispering to turn to Yixing and Kyungsoo. “Kyungsoo, this is Minseok,” Yixing gestures at a tiny girl with short, orange-red hair on the right, “who is back from college for the summer.” Minseok waves her fingers, her smile gummy, and Kyungsoo pictures her with a pair of tiny wings. “And this is Jongdae,” Yixing gestures at the other girl, who strongly reminds Kyungsoo of a Pikachu, “who is only invited because she’s dating Minseok.” 

“What? Why!” Jongdae immediately whines, pulling off her sunglasses and sitting up. “Why do you do this to me!” 

Yixing and Minseok both laugh. Jongdae pouts, but doesn’t seem actually offended - especially when Minseok wraps her arms around her waist and nuzzles against her ear. 

“We like to tease Jongdae,” Yixing explains to Kyungsoo, “because she’s the funniest whiner.” 

“Ah,” Kyungsoo nods. 

Jongdae gives Minseok a little peck before turning to Kyungsoo. “Hi!” She gives her a friendly wave. “Welcome to California. I swear it’s not all this glamorous, just Yixing.” 

“Hello,” Kyungsoo responds with a small wave, as Yixing whines about not being glamorous. 

“Well you make _us_ feel glamorous, for which we are forever thankful.” Minseok says with a wink, running a hand through her hair. She then tilts her head, looking past Kyungsoo and Yixing. “Oh hey, Baekhyun’s back from the store.” 

All three girls turn to look at Yixing, who has since turned three shades redder. Jongdae bursts into laughter. “You’re so cute, oh my god, both of you!” 

“Shut up!” Yixing hisses, swinging an arm at Jongdae. Jongdae squeals and presses herself against Minseok. 

Kyungsoo rests her hand on Yixing’s arm, catching her attention. “Go talk to her, I’ll be fine.” 

Yixing blanches. “What? How do you know-?” 

Kyungsoo grins and shakes her head. “I met Baekhyun earlier today.” 

Slight realization dawns on Yixing’s face, emphasized by her face turning two shades redder, and Kyungsoo finds it appropriate to give Yixing a little push. “Go!” 

The three girls watch Yixing scurry toward Baekhyun with knowing grins on their faces. 

“So,” Minseok says, turning Kyungsoo’s attention toward her. “How did you meet Chanyeol?” 

“We were in the swim team together,” Kyungsoo says, approaching the empty lounge chair next to the two girls and sitting down. “And we just clicked after that.” 

“Ooh, you swim!” Minseok says, scooting to the edge of her lounge chair so that she can face Kyungsoo. “Swimmers have _the_ best bodies of all athletes, in my opinion.” She smiles, the corners of her catlike eyes scrunching up slightly. Kyungsoo finds herself feeling slightly flustered. 

“Ah, well, I don’t know.” Kyungsoo says, an awkward chuckle escaping her lips. “I’m usually too busy trying to beat them to really look at them…in that way.” 

“That’s good then,” Jongdae scoots closer to Minseok, her tongue poking out at the corner of her mouth, between her teeth. Kyungsoo doesn’t miss the quick up-down of Jongdae’s eyes. “We wouldn’t want to be out of the running just because we don’t match up physically.” 

Kyungsoo freezes, her face heating up at Jongdae’s words. Was she…hitting on her? 

“There you are!” 

All three girls whirl around to see Chanyeol, walking toward Kyungsoo with two fancy cups in her hands. Both Jongdae and Minseok jump up, squealing and running to give Chanyeol a hug. Chanyeol returns the hugs to the best of her ability while holding two drinks. The two girls look even tinier next to Chanyeol. 

“Try this, it’s this drink Sehun always makes and it’s _so_ good.” Chanyeol hands a glass to Kyungsoo, who takes a sip of the purple liquid. The sweet, tangy taste bursts on her tongue. 

“Don’t drink too many of those, it’ll get you.” Minseok says, biting the tip of her thumb. Both Jongdae and Minseok burst into giggles. Kyungsoo looks toward Chanyeol, and is slightly comforted by the fact that Chanyeol looks just as confused as Kyungsoo feels. 

“Or do, it always leads to a _really_ , really fun time,” Minseok continues, and squeals as Jongdae reaches out and tickles her. Kyungsoo watches as recognition dawns on Chanyeol’s face, then her features grow just a shade darker. 

“I’ve got a pretty high tolerance, so I think I’ll be okay,” Kyungsoo says. 

“Yeah, her tolerance is almost as high as mine,” Chanyeol adds, and both Minseok and Jongdae light-heartedly shrug. 

“Okay. Well, you two should get a dip in the water before it gets dark.” Minseok changes the subject, standing up to stretch, before pulling Jongdae up to join her. “You don’t want to be swimming when the important people are at the firepit.” 

“And so that you can show off that toned swimmer’s body,” Jongdae adds, wrapping her arms around Minseok’s torso as Minseok turns. She tucks her chin into the crook of the other girl’s neck. “It would be a shame for us to miss that.” Both girls give Kyungsoo and Chanyeol a cheeky smile before walking past them to the shallow end of the pool. 

“What was that?” Chanyeol asks, eyebrows furrowed, eyes sharp on Kyungsoo. 

“I have _no_ idea. I mean, they seem like a cute couple so…maybe they’re just making fun? Teasing me?” Kyungsoo scratches her shoulder, shrugging before taking another sip of the drink. 

“No. It’s not that…” Chanyeol makes a face before tipping her head back and finishing the drink. “Anyway, it’s probably nothing.” She jumps up, pulls her cover up over her head in a swift motion. “Let’s swim. It’s better to go now while the sun’s out so there’s time for our bikinis to dry afterwards.” 

Kyungsoo makes a quick sideways look at the two girls at the shallow end of the pool before pulling her sundress over herself, feeling slightly overexposed again. But Chanyeol was right - no one gives her a second look as she slips into the water, and she forgets about that strange conversation as she dives in underwater, the one place she feels most at home. 

\- 

Three more drinks, two helpings of pasta salad, a beautiful sunset over the ocean, and a veggie burger later, Kyungsoo is sitting on the sofa facing the fire pit, squeezed in between Chanyeol and Baekhyun. The heavy bass of the music are louder here, and Kyungsoo absentmindedly nods along to it. 

“Wanna dance?” Chanyeol asks, and Kyungsoo laughs, shakes her head. 

“Maybe in another drink or two.” 

“Aw, please?” Chanyeol pouts, and Kyungsoo shakes her head harder, pushes Chanyeol. 

“I didn’t say no, I just need more alcohol in me- oh thanks.” Kyungsoo grins, as Baekhyun pushes another drink into her hand, her words just hinting at slurring, “Did you ask for more alcohol?” 

“You should dance with Baekhyun.” Kyungsoo pokes Baekhyun, who claps and jumps up with a resounding ‘yes!’ and grabs Chanyeol’s hands. 

“Help me make Yixing jealous,” Baekhyun decides, pulling Chanyeol into the open area on the balcony to join the other dancers. Kyungsoo hears the beginning of “but Yixing knows we’re just friends, she wouldn’t be jealous-” before the music swallows up their conversation. 

Kyungsoo watches Chanyeol, limbs forever long and skin glowing in the dim light, sway and bob along to the music. Even among other tall, tan Californians, Kyungsoo thinks Chanyeol stands out. Kyungsoo watches as Baekhyun and Chanyeol laugh about something and decides to look for Yixing, just in case the hostess is watching and indeed getting jealous. 

Kyungsoo spots Yixing at the entrance of the balcony, hugging more newcomers, when she feels someone sitting down next to her. 

“Are these seats taken?” Minseok asks, and Kyungsoo turns to see the pixie girl with two drinks in her hand, offering one to Kyungsoo. 

“I guess not right now, since she went to dance,” Kyungsoo smiles, quickly finishing the drink in her hand to take the new one from Minseok. “Thanks.” 

“I’m gonna sit over here,” Jongdae announces, scooting past Kyungsoo to take the spot that Baekhyun had been sitting. Kyungsoo scoots over to give her as much space as possible. 

“Um,” Kyungsoo starts, self-pressured to make conversation. Luckily, Jongdae takes over. 

“So, is there something going on between you and Chanyeol?” 

Kyungsoo snorts into her drink. “No, we’re just friends. She’s my best friend.” 

Minseok tilts her head. “Are you sure? Because we don’t want to like…overstep any boundaries.” 

“Boundaries?” Kyungsoo blinks, looking from Minseok to Jongdae. 

“Yeah, boundaries.” Minseok replies. “You’re sure you two are strictly friends?” 

Kyungsoo furrows her eyebrows, still confused, but nods. “Yes, just friends.” 

“Please tell me it’s not because you’re straight, because that would be tragic.” Jongdae interjects, placing a hand on Kyungsoo’s knee. 

“I-” Kyungsoo starts, blinks again. She shakes her head. “No, not straight. I’m- not- no.” 

“Oh, thank god,” Jongdae smiles, folding a leg onto the couch so that she could sit facing Kyungsoo. “I knew you were too hot to just play for the other team.” 

“Thank you?” Kyungsoo asks, and Minseok laughs. 

“Sorry, Jongdae has never been very subtle about her attraction to people. It makes her kinda bad at flirting.” Jongdae whines a complaint as Minseok stoops her head to make eye contact with Kyungsoo. “Oh, hey, you have something-.” Minseok reaches forward and gently pinches at something on the corner of Kyungsoo’s lip. Kyungsoo ducks her head, feeling hot, not one to usually be under such intense attention. 

“I don’t…aren’t you two together?” Kyungsoo asks finally, thumb playing with the lip of her cup. 

“Yes, we are,” Minseok says, and Jongdae reaches behind Kyungsoo to rest her fingers on the crook of Minseok’s neck. 

“Have you ever heard of polyamory before, Kyungsoo?” Jongdae asks. 

“Poly…isn’t that like, an open relationship?” 

“A little,” Minseok takes over. “It means we don’t restrict ourselves to a monogamous relationship. We love each other a lot, but we’re open to meeting other people, and loving other people…” 

Kyungsoo’s mouth opens as the realization slowly sinks in. “Oh.” 

Jongdae giggles. “Have you ever been with a girl before, Kyungsoo?” 

Kyungsoo tightens her lips, contemplating whether she even wanted to continue speaking to these girls. She was not one to open up easily, especially about her sexual experience, and Minseok and Jongdae were near strangers. Then again, she had never been in a situation where the people in question were openly queer women, willing to talk about something she knew so little about. Not to mention she had six or seven drinks in her. 

“Just one girl, in middle school.” Kyungsoo finishes the rest of her drink. 

“Tell us about her,” Minseok sinks back into the couch and Kyungsoo and Jongdae do the same. 

“I don’t know. It was really confusing. We only dated for about two months, but that feels like forever when you’re thirteen. Especially when neither of you are out.” Kyungsoo sighs, and wonders if she’s had too much to drink. 

“That’s hard,” Jongdae empathizes, resting her head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “What happened?” 

“It was at sleepaway swim camp and she was from Florida. So, not many places that could’ve gone.” Kyungsoo rests her head on Jongdae’s, feeling oddly comforted. 

“And then, did you just never pursue another relationship?” Minseok rests her elbow on the couch cushion behind Kyungsoo and rests her head on her fist. 

“I got to high school and I got really focused on swimming, I guess. Plus, a high school in southwestern United States? It’s just easier to wait until I’m out of there.” Kyungsoo lifts her head up and turns to smile at Minseok. 

“Well, you’re out of there now.” Minseok gives Kyungsoo a knowing look, fingers playing with some of Kyungsoo’s hair. 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Kyungsoo’s eyes drift to her empty cup, feeling too hot even in the California heat. 

“You had two drinks, dance with me.” 

Jongdae and Minseok suddenly sit up and away from Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo looks up from her cup to see Chanyeol, a demanding hand out in front of her, and her expression unreadable. 

“I was talking to-” Kyungsoo starts. 

“Now. Dance with me.” Chanyeol doesn’t ask for Kyungsoo’s permission this time and grabs her hand, pulling her up and away from the two girls. Kyungsoo barely has time to turn and wave to Minseok and Jongdae before she is pulled to the other side of the balcony. 

“They were flirting with you, weren’t they?” Chanyeol asks over the music, half-heartedly swaying to the beat. Her voice is tight, eyebrows furrowed, eyes piercing. 

“They were- a little?” Kyungsoo replies, hesitant. Chanyeol glares, but the heat of her anger doesn’t seem aimed at Kyungsoo. Her body has stopped swaying. 

“I can’t believe this! Those girls are bad news, don’t hang out with them.” 

Kyungsoo frowns. 

“What? Why? Because they’re lesbian?” 

“What? _No_!” Chanyeol looks surprised out of her glare for a second. “It’s not- they’re so-” she throws her hands up in the air. “Like, ugh, I’m not going to judge you for being polyamorous, I know that’s a real thing and I know people that are like that and find fulfillment in that but like… stop flirting with people!” Chanyeol’s voice has risen at least an octave. “They already have each other and like, well, me, for example, I have no one!” 

Kyungsoo watches Chanyeol, eyes careful. 

“ _What_?” Chanyeol asks, exasperated. “It’s not fair that they get to have each other _and_ you to be with, when I haven’t had a chance to be with-” Chanyeol stops. 

“With?” Kyungsoo asks, her heart suddenly kicking up a notch. 

“Nobody! I mean, somebody.” Chanyeol scratches her ear. “When I haven’t had a chance to be with anybody. Since I moved to Colorado, anyway.” 

Kyungsoo sighs and smiles, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t just go up and hook up with the first two people I meet in California, Chanyeol. Do you even know me?” 

Chanyeol opens her mouth in retort, then closes them. “Right.” 

Kyungsoo chuckles, pushes Chanyeol. “Whatever, let’s just dance.” 

\- 

Kyungsoo looks for Minseok and Jongdae after three songs, when Baekhyun and Yixing join Chanyeol and her on the makeshift dance floor. Baekhyun and Chanyeol grind up on each other to the music. Although Kyungsoo would normally have to tear her eyes away, she wants to see if Minseok and Jongdae would still be open to talking, even if she doesn’t want to sleep with them. 

‘Partition’ is playing and Kyungsoo sways her hips to the beat, turning her head to look at the couch by the firepit where she had last seen them. The seat is taken up by a new group of people she doesn’t recognize. 

She quickly works her eyes around the balcony, to see if she could pick up on the orange-red pixie haircut somewhere in the mix but either the two girls are too short to be seen or they left soon after Kyungsoo went with Chanyeol. Kyungsoo shrugs. Maybe they found someone else to be their third. 

The song changes to a fast dubstep number Kyungsoo doesn’t recognize, and Chanyeol hooks her arm around Kyungsoo’s waist, pulling her close. Kyungsoo’s attention is quickly dragged away from the polyamorous couple as they dance closely together, jumping up and down and shouting over the drop. They don’t stop dancing for anything other than drinks until the party comes to a close. 

By the time they crash in Yixing’s basement, too drunk to drive themselves home, Chanyeol seems to have forgotten completely about her earlier outburst. She wraps the blanket Yixing lent her around her shoulders and yawns, burying her face into the couch cushions and mumbling about how soft everything is. 

Kyungsoo watches her with a lazy smile, giving Chanyeol’s hand one last squeeze before crawling over to the other side of the long couch to lie down. Their legs occupy the same section of the couch, lightly touching, and Kyungsoo secretly beams into her cushion. 

“‘Night, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo mumbles. 

There’s no reply for awhile, and Kyungsoo is almost asleep by the time she finally hears a response. 

“‘Night,” Chanyeol murmurs back, almost incoherent with her face buried. “I’m so happy that you’re in California with me.” 

\- 

It takes a full day to recover from Yixing’s party and another week of lazing around, mostly lying around the beach and soaking up the sun, for Kyungsoo to bring up the surfing lessons that they had tentatively planned with Sehun. A few texts later and the first lesson is set for Kyungsoo the day after. Last minute, Chanyeol decides to join in. 

“What? You said you watched one too many shark movies to ever consider learning how to surf,” Sehun says, as she measures and writes down Kyungsoo’s height and weight on the rental form of the shop where she works. 

“I changed my mind, no big deal,” Chanyeol pouts, looking through a stack of surf boards set up on the side of the shop. 

“Stop touching those, if one falls they’ll all fall,” Sehun responds, walking toward the back of the store. “I’m going to teach you on a longboard, is that ok?” she calls out. “One of the instructors said it’s easier to balance on and easier to pick up than anything else.” 

Kyungsoo shrugs. “I didn’t even know there were different kinds of surfboards until today, so.” 

Sehun laughs. “Got it.” She pulls out a dark green board with yellow lines on it and places it on the counter. Kyungsoo’s eyes widen at the length of the board. 

“How long is my board going to be if hers is this long?” Chanyeol speaks up, and Sehun smirks. 

“Rental longboards for beginners are pretty much the same length.” 

“Then why are you measuring my height?!” Chanyeol demands, stepping behind the counter under Sehun’s tape measurer. Kyungsoo laughs as Sehun resorts to standing on her tiptoes to try and get an accurate reading of Chanyeol’s height. 

Sehun sighs as she writes down the number inside the little box marked ‘height’. “I honestly couldn’t tell you.” 

\- 

Surfing is hard. 

Kyungsoo hasn’t even been in the water yet and she’s tired, lying down on top of the longboard on the beach, the leash tied to her ankle. 

“Remember, you need to push your body up and bring your feet under you in one motion, one foot by your hands, the other behind, not too far apart.” Sehun demonstrates on her board, and Kyungsoo is impressed by how effortless she makes that motion look. 

“Let’s try it again on a count of three,” Sehun says, and Kyungsoo curls her fingers around the edges of the board for what feels like the fiftieth time. “One, two, three!” 

Kyungsoo pops up to her feet and hangs her arms loose and out of her sides, pretending to ride an invisible wave. 

Chanyeol’s feet hit the board on her way up, causing her to fall over the side and onto the sand for the third time in a row. “My legs are too long to do this,” Chanyeol complains, lying sprawled on the sand, and Kyungsoo holds in her laughter. 

“It might be easier for you to pop up to your knees first and then stand, if you can’t get to your feet right away.” Sehun lends Chanyeol a hand and pulls her back to her feet. 

Chanyeol tries, and gets to her feet with no errors. “Well, you could’ve said this from the beginning,” she says, repeating the motion three times on her own without prompting, excited now that she could do it. 

It takes another ten or so rounds of pretending to surf on dry land before Sehun gives her students the go ahead to get in the water to try their hands at catching a wave. 

Surfing then gets a lot harder. 

Kyungsoo can barely get on her feet before constantly falling into the water, tossed this way and that underneath the wave before fighting her way into the air. She gasps and rubs the water from her eyes as she pops up from under the wave, coughing. 

“This is so much harder than snowboarding!” She yells out at Chanyeol, who is also in the middle of catching her breath after a wipeout. Chanyeol laughs. 

“Yeah, well, for one thing, the mountain doesn’t move!” She yells back as they try and get to more shallow waters. 

“And the mountain has never tried to drown me before,” Kyungsoo laughs, pulling her board out in front of her. 

Sehun gracefully rides her board toward them, sitting down on the board as the wave dies out. 

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you...try and move up and down your board each time you pop up. There’s a sweet spot on the board that’s different for every person, so it’s really a trial and error kind of thing, and I can’t really help you there.” 

She then bursts into laughter, hitting the board in front of her. “The two of you made the exact same face at me right now, that was the funniest thing ever, oh my god.” 

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol don’t even have to look at each other before they’re both splashing water at Sehun, forcefully knocking her off the board. 

“You’re both dead!” Sehun cries as she emerges from the water, and Kyungsoo and Chanyeol shriek, swimming as far away, as quickly as possible. 

Being competitive, nationally ranked swimmers came in handy at times like these. 

“I bet I can find my sweet spot before you,” Chanyeol challenges when they’re a safe distance away, setting up their boards for another excursion into the waves. 

“No way, it’s on,” Kyungsoo grins, kicking water in Chanyeol’s direction. Chanyeol shrieks and kicks water back at Kyungsoo and then they’re sitting on their boards, wildly splashing at each other. 

“Okay, no we came here to surf, not splash!” Kyungsoo screeches over the water. And then finally, after a truce handshake, they’re paddling into the ocean, intent on being the first to successfully stand up on their board. 

The smaller waves are easy enough to float over, although Kyungsoo distractedly wishes her limbs were longer or the board smaller so she’d have better grip of the water as she paddles. All at once, she almost feels more than sees the perfect wave building up in front of her. She turns her board around and lays flat on the surface, pulling her arms under water and waiting for that perfect moment… 

She pops up, arms tight as her feet pull under her, body positioned more toward the back of the board as Sehun suggested, knees bent, arms loose - and then she’s standing. 

“I got it!” She screams, her eyes trained at the nose of the board. She distantly hears Chanyeol’s familiar woops underneath a sharp ‘eyes forward!’ before her board flies out from under her, knocking her into the water. 

The water is rougher than she estimated, the sand and rocks closer to her body than she thought. She shoots out her legs to try and get a grip on the ground and feels a sharp pain on her thigh and hand. She panics, realizing that she could not breathe, when her forearms get a firm grip on the beach. Her knees hit the sand next and she scrambles out of the water and onto the dry land, gasping for air. 

“Oh my god, are you okay-” she hears, and Kyungsoo holds out a hand, her back in the sand, more concerned about getting the oxygen back into her lungs. 

“Hold on-” she manages, taking slow, deep breaths, taking the time to make sure she is okay. As her lungs slow their crying, her left thigh and hand starts burning. 

“Ouch...you probably scraped yourself against a rock or something,” she hears a different voice, Sehun’s voice, say. She opens her eyes to see Sehun squatting by her side, her gaze pointed to Kyungsoo’s thigh. 

“Oh, so that’s the burning,” Kyungsoo comments, lifting her left hand to see that- yep, her palm had been scraped up as well. 

“Fuck, she’s bleeding!” Kyungsoo hears Chanyeol yell, before she also appears in Kyungsoo’s sightline. 

“Oh my god, that was so scary, are you okay?” Chanyeol asks, voice softer as she kneels beside Kyungsoo. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kyungsoo says, slowly pushing herself up to a sitting position. Her thigh shines with large drops of blood, but Kyungsoo can see that it’s all superficial injuries. “That was fucking crazy-” she blinks, noticing that half of her vision is blurry, “-and I’m pretty sure one of my contacts got knocked out as well.” 

“You went down so fucking hard, shit, we need to get you cleaned up,” Chanyeol frets, and for some reason it brings a smile to Kyungsoo’s lips. 

“It’s fine, Chanyeol, calm down.” She moves to remove the leash from her ankle and Chanyeol is there, gently ripping the velcro off for her. “Thanks.” Kyungsoo then turns to Sehun. “But maybe that’s enough surfing for today.” 

“Good idea,” Sehun responds, pulling Kyungsoo’s board completely out of the water and laying it on the sand. “It might be better to go home to clean that, I’ll take care of the boards for you.” 

“Can you walk? Do you need me to carry you?” Chanyeol moves to pick Kyungsoo up and Kyungsoo laughs, pushing Chanyeol. 

“Oh my god, Chanyeol stop, I can walk!” Kyungsoo slowly stands, puts a bit of weight on her left leg. It doesn’t hurt terribly, but Kyungsoo doesn’t push Chanyeol away again when the girl hooks Kyungsoo’s arm around her shoulder. 

“Let me get our stuff, and then we’ll go.” Chanyeol says, as the girls wave good bye and thank Sehun one more time. “It’s just ten minutes, you can do that, right?” Kyungsoo nods. 

\- 

“I have iodine and Neosporin and and bunch of bandages,” Chanyeol calls from outside the bathroom door, where Kyungsoo is sitting on the edge of the bathtub, washing out her fresh wounds. 

“No, no iodine,” Kyungsoo declares, wincing as the soap stings her raw skin. 

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol sounds like she is directly outside the door now. 

“Yeah, iodine hurts,” Kyungsoo whines, and when Chanyeol doesn’t react, “You can come in, you know.” 

“Sorry,” Chanyeol opens the door, her eyes trained on her phone. “I’m texting my dad to ask him how important iodine is.” Dropping the bottle of iodide and the first aid kit on the toilet seat, she looks up at Kyungsoo and sighs, sympathy written all over her face. “Are you okay?” 

“It just stings a lot, but it’s fine. I’m just mad that I wiped out so hard.” Kyungsoo rolls her eyes, turning the shower head on to wash away the soap on her skin. 

“Battle scars, right?” Chanyeol offers helpfully, stepping into the tub to take a seat next to Kyungsoo. Chanyeol’s phone buzzes and both girls look down at it, where Josh’s text claims ‘drying out the wound with iodine will help heal it’. 

Kyungsoo groans. 

“I hate that stuff, it always made me cry harder than actually getting hurt when I was little,” she complains, turning off the water once she finds the scrapes clean enough. 

“I can do it for you, if you want.” Kyungsoo looks at Chanyeol, who shrugs. “So you don’t have to cause your _self_ any pain.” 

Kyungsoo pouts at her injuries but nods. Chanyeol leans her long body over to grab the first aid kit and iodine from the toilet lid and situates herself on her knees inside the tub, where she could have better leverage in dressing Kyungsoo’s wounds. “If you hurt me too bad I’ll get mad.” 

Chanyeol sticks out her tongue before she pulls Kyungsoo’s hurt leg in between her knees, leaning over to look carefully before pulling out a gauze strip and pouring some iodine on it. 

“Don’t kick me, I’m going to hold this on your thigh so it can really get in there so let me know when it gets it gets too much,” Chanyeol says quietly. Before Kyungsoo can respond, Chanyeol is pressing the gauze to her leg and Kyungsoo is frozen as tiny daggers start stabbing at her wound. 

“Ah, ow, ow, oh my god, fuck, ah!” She half rambles, half laughs, her good hand grabbing Chanyeol’s shoulder in an effort to alleviate the pain. 

“It kinda sounds like you’re enjoying this,” Chanyeol teases, holding Kyungsoo’s leg against her tight and laughing. 

“Ok, no stop, stopstop!” Kyungsoo cries finally and Chanyeol lifts the gauze off, blowing on Kyungsoo’s thigh to help ease the pain. 

“Shit, that hurts so bad,” Kyungsoo whines, and Chanyeol tuts as she spreads Neosporin over the wound. She opens a large bandage to place on top of it. 

“There, there, all better,” she coos, placing a gentle but exaggerated kiss over the bandage once finished. Kyungsoo knocks her knee into Chanyeol’s chest in response, which just elicits a laugh from Chanyeol. 

“Now let me see your hand.” 

Kyungsoo considers refusing, letting the hand take its chances with possible infections, but Chanyeol and her large hands lift Kyungsoo’s small one, bringing it close for inspection. 

“Ooh, this looks worse than your thigh for sure,” Chanyeol observes, her voice low, and Kyungsoo leans forward to look at her hand as well. From where she’s sitting on the edge of the tub and where Chanyeol is on her knees inside the tub, Kyungsoo is taller than Chanyeol in a rare occasion. 

“Don’t hurt me, okay?” Kyungsoo isn’t sure why she’s whispering. 

“I’ll try my best,” Chanyeol whispers back, a hand wrapped under Kyungsoo’s as she reaches for the iodine and gauze strip. 

This time Kyungsoo doesn’t yell but shuts her eyes tight, her good hand balled into a fist on her leg. When she’s had enough, she taps twice on Chanyeol’s arm to let her know she is done. Chanyeol again softly blows on Kyungsoo’s palm to calm the pain nerves. 

“Your breath smells nice,” Kyungsoo states. 

Chanyeol looks up from Kyungsoo’s palm, eyes wide, lips still open in a perfect ‘o’. Kyungsoo’s face burns and her own eyes widen as she realizes just how close her face is to Chanyeol’s. Kyungsoo’s eyes automatically drop to Chanyeol’s lips, and doesn’t pull back for a split second too long. 

“Oh, my god, sorry.” She pulls back finally, forcing some air back into her lungs, pushing her glasses back up her nose and laughing awkwardly. “I got too distracted by how much my hand hurt, I guess.” 

Chanyeol shakes her head, her cheeks also a soft pink as she echos Kyungsoo’s laugh. “No, it’s fine.” She spreads Neosporin over Kyungsoo’s palm and sticks the bandage on, dropping Kyungsoo’s hand and standing up to climb out of the bathtub. 

Then, as if an afterthought, she adds, “Your breath smells nice too.” 

\- 

Fourth of July calls for barbecue parties, and of course Chanyeol (and by association, Kyungsoo), is invited to a small handful. Although the girls originally planned on spending a quiet day eating burgers and watching TV with Josh, their plans change when Josh gets called to a sudden conference out of the state for the weekend. 

“I’d rather not go to a huge party if you can help it, but it’s really up to you,” Kyungsoo says, picking at the scab on her palm, which had finally begun falling off on its own. She sits cross-legged on her bed, watching an absentmindedly pacing Chanyeol. “Where do you usually go for Fourth of July?” 

“Well, I usually go to Junmyeon’s…my...ex-boyfriend’s barbecue, but I don’t know, I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, or anything.” 

Kyungsoo’s heart unwittingly skips a beat. “What? No, why would I feel uncomfortable?” She smiles and waves her hand, a picture of nonchalance. 

“Are you sure? I mean, Junmyeon and I are just like, really good friends now. He’s probably one of my closest friends that’s not part of my original friend circle? And even when we did date, which was like, when I was a freshman, I liked him too much as a friend to really do anything serious with him. Physically. Wise. I mean.” Chanyeol scratches her forehead. “And like, his dad’s from Texas so they always make the best barbecue in the city.” 

“Yeah, that sounds fine,” Kyungsoo shakes her head, climbing off the bed. “And I could go for some actual meat after hanging out with all your vegan-slash-vegetarian friends for the past month.” 

“I told you like a hundred times, you don’t have to feel bad about eating meat in front of them,” Chanyeol says, rolling her eyes as her fingers type away on her phone. 

“Well, I feel weird about it, like I’m rubbing the lack of my belief in animal rights in their faces or something.” Kyungsoo opens the bottom drawer of her dresser, pulling out a pair of jean short overalls that Chanyeol made her buy at the mall a few days ago. 

“Oh my god, yes, you’re wearing that? Hold on, I have the perfect shirt to go with it.” Chanyeol runs across the hallway and Kyungsoo follows, the overalls still in her hand. 

Chanyeol is rummaging through her closet when Kyungsoo enters the room, the walls much barer since she took down the teen Disney star posters. 

“Here.” She pulls out a white, loose fitting crop top and tosses it at Kyungsoo. “Please wear those two together, you would look so good.” 

Kyungsoo stares at the thin cotton in her hands, before shrugging and turning around to return to her bedroom. 

“Yes! You’re literally going to be _the_ cutest girl at the barbecue,” Chanyeol crows, and Kyungsoo turns around to glare at Chanyeol over her glasses. 

“Don’t call me cute.” 

Chanyeol puts both hands up, mouthing ‘sorry’. Kyungsoo makes a face and walks through the doorway, and opts to ignore the whispers of “cutest girl at the barbecue” from behind her, unsure if she could control the involuntary smile creeping up her face anyway. 

\- 

Junmyeon’s house is located only a few blocks from Chanyeol’s place, and when the girls show up a few hours later, hair still wet and messy from their detour through the crowded beach, the party is already in full swing. 

The crowd consists of mostly adults, four or five people Kyungsoo and Chanyeol’s age, and a group of children - which is when Kyungsoo realizes that this is mostly a family barbecue. 

To their credit, however, the Kims don’t even give Kyungsoo a chance to feel awkward or out of place, immediately stuffing her full of “East Texas” barbecue and never forgetting to include her in their conversations. 

Kyungsoo is watching Chanyeol playing tag with the group of kids in the backyard when Junmyeon, whom Chanyeol had briefly introduced Kyungsoo to when they first got to the house, approaches her. 

“She’s more popular with my cousins than I am,” Junmyeon says, offering Kyungsoo a bottle of beer that she doesn’t recognize. 

“Thanks,” she says, accepting the bottle mostly out of courtesy. They clink the bottles together and Kyungsoo takes a sip, and is pleased to find that she enjoys the taste. “Oh wow, this is good.” 

“I thought you would like it,” Junmyeon smiles, and Kyungsoo finds his smile comforting and inviting. 

“She’s popular with pretty much everyone, though, isn’t she?” She replies finally, chuckling as two of the littlest ones try and climb on top of Chanyeol. 

“I think that’s probably her best feature,” Junmyeon nods. “That, and that fact that she’s always at a nine out of ten.” 

Kyungsoo laughs. “Oh, yeah, definitely.” Chanyeol yells for mercy as two more kids decide to make a jungle gym out of her. 

“That’s probably why she gravitates toward calmer people, I bet.” 

Kyungsoo turns to Junmyeon. “Oh?” 

Junmyeon furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to judge you so quickly, but I mean, you’re definitely nothing like Chanyeol.” 

“Yeah, that’s true.” Kyungsoo agrees, smiling to let Junmyeon know that she isn’t offended. 

“And me being outwardly calm myself, I’m pretty sure that’s why Chanyeol first started hanging out with me.” 

Kyungsoo chuckles. “Really?” 

“Yeah, I mean she had no real reason to. I was two grades ahead of her and our circle of friends only overlapped at Sehun, who I only knew because our parents are friends.” Junmyeon takes a swig of his beer and nods his head in thought. “But I think Chanyeol knows, whether it’s unconsciously or not, that she needs people like me, or someone like you, in her life.” 

Kyungsoo doesn’t mean to, but she lets out a small laugh as Junmyeon finishes speaking. “How long have you waited to drop this ‘Chanyeol wisdom’ on somebody?” 

Junmyeon laughs as well, biting his lower lip before speaking. “I don’t know, was that too serious? Sorry, I can be like that sometimes.” 

Kyungsoo is about to comment when she is interrupted by one of Junmyeon’s uncles. He calls attention to a now nearly invisible Chanyeol buried under a small pile of children, and suggests for them to help Chanyeol before she’s crushed under the mountain of kids. 

Rescuing Chanyeol takes a full two minutes of calming the screaming kids down and sending them back to their parents, and by the time the laughing Chanyeol is lying on the grass by herself, out of breath with bits of green stuck to her skin, the mild similarities between Chanyeol’s ex-boyfriend and herself are the last things on her mind. 

\- 

They stay at the party for just another two or three hours, but the sheer amount of socializing Kyungsoo put herself through leaves her exhausted and more than ready to go home by the time Chanyeol asks if Kyungsoo wants to leave. 

Goodbyes take another twenty minutes and by the time the girls are on their way home, armed with trays of leftovers, the sun has set quite a bit. 

“I would suggest watching the Fourth of July fireworks on the beach but you really look like you don’t want to go anywhere with people.” Chanyeol starts, half teasing, half sympathetic. 

“Yeah, they were all really nice people and fireworks sounds cool but all I can think of right now is going home and taking a long, hot shower.” Kyungsoo acknowledges, body drooping to add emphasis to her words. 

“That’s fine, I’ve seen the fireworks every year since I was four, so I’m pretty much over it.” Chanyeol reaches out her hand and laces her fingers with Kyungsoo’s, swinging their joined hands slightly as they continue down the street. “If you want to see it later just let me know, though, I’m pretty sure you can see most of it from my roof.” 

Kyungsoo sighs and smiles, grateful. “Thanks. We can hang out after I take my shower.” 

“You know I always have your back,” Chanyeol tilts her head knowingly, a smirk clear on her face. “And okay, that sounds good.” 

Both girls slip into a comfortable silence the rest of the walk home. 

\- 

A steaming shower, comfy clothes and a mug of hot tea later Kyungsoo feels much closer to a human being. She sits on the squishy living room sofa, arms wrapped around her legs, chin tucked into the space between her knees as Chanyeol sits cross-legged on the matching arm chair, finishing up her own cup of tea. The distinct booms of the fireworks from the beach punctuate the easy silence. 

“You know what would be perfect right about now?” 

Kyungsoo tilts her head toward Chanyeol, who is looking back at her with a hint of excitement in her eyes. 

“What?” 

“A night swim.” 

Kyungsoo lifts her head off its perch and stares up, thinking through the suggestion. There’s a rustle to her left and she doesn’t even have to look to know Chanyeol is already walking across the room to the sliding glass doors that lead to the pool. 

With a tiny huff, Kyungsoo unfolds herself off the couch and walks out after her. 

“But I already took a shower,” Kyungsoo whines, as she watches Chanyeol turn the underwater lights to the swimming pool on. The surrounding area illuminates a brilliant blue-purple. 

“You make it sound like we don’t already take multiple showers a day,” Chanyeol responds, unfazed. She walks around to the other side of the pool. 

“I’d have to go upstairs to change, and my bikini’s all sandy from the beach,” Kyungsoo counters, although she is already walking towards the edge of the pool. 

“Just jump in with your bra and underwear,” Chanyeol says matter-of-factly, dipping her toes into the pool. “It’s the same thing, and nobody’s here but me. And I don’t care.” 

Kyungsoo watches, her gaze frequently dropping, unsure if she should be watching as Chanyeol strips down to a knit bralette and panties. The light from the pool lights up Chanyeol’s skin and Kyungsoo swallows dry. Chanyeol throws two pool float beds left on the side to dry into the pool and jumps in after it. 

“Are you coming?” Chanyeol asks, leaning back to dip her hair into the water. Kyungsoo hesitates for 10 more seconds before breaking out into a grin, quickly pulling her oversized shirt and shorts off to softly jump into the pool. Chanyeol claps appreciatively. 

They splash around for awhile, enjoying the cooling effect of the water on their skin as they dive in and out of the pool, playing with the water without the usual rigidity of their strokes. Eventually they both wind up on their own pool floats, enjoying the silence after the fireworks and watching the stars. It’s Kyungsoo who finally speaks up first. 

“You know what I’ve always kinda wanted to do, but never had a chance to do?” Kyungsoo stares straight into the sky, the twinkling lights. 

Chanyeol hums. “What?” 

“Skinny dip.” 

“What-?!” Chanyeol bolts upright from the pool float, knocking her off balance and straight into the water head first. Kyungsoo laughs at her, heart pounding, half embarrassed, half delirious. She almost can’t believe that she’d said it out loud. Maybe she’d had too much Californian sun? 

Kyungsoo slowly sits up on the pool float to Chanyeol coming up from the water, her eyes full of mischief. 

“Actually, I’ve done it before.” 

It’s Kyungsoo’s turn to be shocked, as the girl’s eyes widen and her mouth drops open. 

“What?!” 

Chanyeol nods, lifting up the wet hair sticking to the nape of her neck and pulling it over one shoulder. 

“Right in this pool.” 

Kyungsoo watches, a small part of her mind wondering if she’s dreaming, as Chanyeol sinks into the water up to her shoulders and pulls her bralette over her head, smiling shy. She then bends forward, removing her panties. Bunching both pieces of fabric in her hands, Chanyeol lastly tosses them over to the side. They land somewhere with a wet ‘plop’. 

Kyungsoo forces her mouth closed and swallows. She gracefully hops off the pool float into the water, the thick silence only interrupted by flowing water. Eyes on Chanyeol’s, gaze bolder than the other’s, Kyungsoo unclips her bra, shrugs the straps off her shoulders, and pulls the fabric away from her body. She then reaches for her panties, fingers slipping under the wet cotton, and quickly strips them off of herself. 

The two girls stare at each other for a few moments, five feet between them, before they both burst into fits of laughter. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Kyungsoo exclaims, covering her cheeks with her hands. 

“I can’t believe you’re doing it either,” Chanyeol teases, copying Kyungsoo’s actions in exaggeration. 

“Shut up!” Kyungsoo lunges forward in the water and splashes Chanyeol, who with a laugh, disappears underwater. Kyungsoo dives under as well, swimming after Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol hops out of the pool before Kyungsoo can reach her, and by the time Kyungsoo is above water, holding onto the pool float, she is at the fence by the deep end of the pool. 

“I’m naked!!!” Chanyeol screams as she runs onto the diving board and cannonballs, creating a huge splash that completely covers Kyungsoo. 

“Oh my _god_!” Kyungsoo screams in glee as Chanyeol reemerges, laughing. Feeling brave Kyungsoo swims over to the edge of the pool and pulls herself out as well, setting herself up at the back end of the diving board. Over Chanyeol’s cheers she lifts a single hand high in the air like a gymnast, before running the short length of the board and flipping into the water. 

“Ten points for execution!” Chanyeol declares as Kyungsoo resurfaces, and Kyungsoo throws both hands in the air for a second, fingers pointed out and head held high, before doggy-paddling over to a pool float. 

“Aw, six points for landing,” Chanyeol calls, and Kyungsoo drops her jaw in faux shock. 

“What?!” She shouts, throwing out a hand in anger. “That is _bull_ shit, that was a perfect landing if I ever saw one!” 

“Ooh, minus five points for cursing at the judge,” Chanyeol pushes, then shrieks and dives away underwater as Kyungsoo charges at her, screaming. 

Chanyeol swims toward the shallow end of the pool with Kyungsoo hot on her trail. Kyungsoo lurches forward and manages to grab Chanyeol’s calf about halfway across and intent on playing out the vengeful competitive diver, she pulls Chanyeol toward her with a superficial anger. Chanyeol turns around, mouth open in a silent scream of terror, hands held straight out in front of her in defense. Kyungsoo grabs one of those hands and the back of Chanyeol’s knee with another, so that Chanyeol can no longer kick herself away. They push and pull at each other like this, laughter bubbles floating out of their mouths, their characters abandoned, until they run out of air and need to resurface. 

Their hand are still connected, bodies close enough for their legs to tangle together. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo both gasp for air quietly, chests heaving, eyes hooked on each other. The water is just deep enough for Kyungsoo to have to stand on the very tip of her toes, and Chanyeol slides her free hand under Kyungsoo’s thigh to help support her. 

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo says quietly. 

Chanyeol responds by leaning in and capturing Kyungsoo’s lips with her own. 

All of Kyungsoo’s nerves light up in flames, her body responding on its own. Her arms wrap around Chanyeol’s neck, her legs coming up to straddle Chanyeol’s hips, her body closing up the little space there was between them. Chanyeol’s arm comes around Kyungsoo’s waist, pressing her even closer, the hand on Kyungsoo’s thigh squeezing tight. 

She doesn’t realize they’d been moving until her knees bump against the wall of the pool, Chanyeol’s back against the edge. Kyungsoo lowers a foot to find that they had also moved to shallower waters, and she slides a hand up Chanyeol’s neck to support her as she deepens the kiss. Chanyeol, eager and pliant, lets out a small whimper and Kyungsoo’s world spins. 

It feels like forever but at the same time, no time at all when Kyungsoo finally pulls away, more out of breath now than when they were underwater. 

“Holy shit, I’ve thought about this for so long,” Kyungsoo confesses, forehead against forehead, hands grasping the nape of Chanyeol’s neck. 

“I haven’t been able to look at you without sweating since that _stupid_ bikini,” Chanyeol responds, almost exasperated, and the way the blue-purple light of the pool illuminates her skin, her slightly swollen lips, lures Kyungsoo back in for another kiss. 

They stay like that against the pool wall, hot breaths mingling, fingers brushing along arms, naked skin touching, kisses slowly simmering down to gentle pecks, disbelieving smiles and soft laughter dispersed throughout. 

“Did you bring up skinny dipping to get me naked?” Chanyeol asks, her voice low but teasing, and Kyungsoo scrunches her face up in guilt. 

“Well, not exactly,” she whines as Chanyeol bursts into giggles. “It was actually on my imaginary bucket list. Doing it with you though, is definitely a plus.” 

Chanyeol’s ears flush darker and she leans forward for another peck. Kyungsoo easily concedes. 

“When in the world did _you_ go skinny dipping?” Kyungsoo asks, and Chanyeol laughs. 

“It’s nothing that exciting or sexy, I swear. It was during my thirteenth birthday sleepover, we had just watched some teen movie that had skinny dipping in it, and during truth or dare Baekhyun had the great idea that I should skinny dip in the pool to prove my teenage-ness, or something.” 

Kyungsoo makes a sympathetic noise, and Chanyeol nods sadly. “Yep. There I was in the pool butt naked, while six or seven girls stared at me in silence because we couldn’t risk waking my parents up. You can laugh you know, it’s funny now.” 

Kyungsoo pulls Chanyeol into a hug, shoulders shaking in laughter. Chanyeol hugs her back tightly, and soon they’re just hugging, holding each other for warmth and comfort. 

Eventually they make it out of the pool and back inside. Their naked bodies are once again subject to embarrassment out in the open air, as they stumble around grabbing their wet and dry articles of clothing before they wrap each other up in the extra beach towels. 

“Come to my room?” Chanyeol asks, voice soft, hopeful. Kyungsoo nods, biting her lower lip to keep from smiling too large. They had a lot to talk about, after all: hidden topics that they’d skirted in the past three years they’d known each other, little misunderstandings that could finally be straightened out, feelings they could finally express to one another. 

\- 

Kyungsoo decides to skip showering in favor of getting to Chanyeol’s room faster. She’d spent her entire life in chlorine, surely chlorine would forgive her for one night. Standing in the semi-darkness of her room, she contemplates picking out a sexier outfit before deciding against it. If they are going to be revealing their souls to one another, Kyungsoo wants to be comfy. 

Kyungsoo’s stomach churns with nerves as she crosses the dark hallway to Chanyeol’s room, and she notes how even entering it feels completely different to her now. The door to Chanyeol’s room stands ajar, but Kyungsoo still feels the need to knock. 

“Come in.” Chanyeol sounds as nervous as Kyungsoo feels when Kyungsoo steps in through the doorway. 

Chanyeol is sitting cross legged on her bed, lit up by the fairy lights that Kyungsoo had helped her put up around her bed frame a week ago. Kyungsoo makes a small strained noise, covers her face up, half mumbling and half laughing, “God, you’re _so_ hot.” 

“Shut up,” Chanyeol complains, kicking the air in front of her. “Get on the bed.” 

Kyungsoo’s stomach gives another squeeze as she walks toward Chanyeol’s bed and climbs in beside her. Chanyeol scoots over to give her room, then quickly scoots back when Kyungsoo settles in. Kyungsoo takes Chanyeol’s hand. 

“I think, that may have been the first time you’ve held my hand first,” Chanyeol comments, staring down at their joined hands. Kyungsoo gives Chanyeol a small squeeze. 

“Because the intent when you took my hand always felt so innocent, and I wasn’t sure my intent would be as innocent if I took yours.” Kyungsoo sighs. “I didn’t want to force something on you, even if you wouldn’t know it.” 

Chanyeol’s mouth hangs open as she stares at their hands. “Just…how long did you like me for?” 

Kyungsoo shrugs. “I just realized it one day, so it could have been for longer.” A soft smile forms on Kyungsoo’s lips, and she rubs her thumb over the back of Chanyeol’s hand. “It was just like after practice one day, junior year. I don’t remember the day, or if it was toward the beginning of the season or the end of the season, but I was sitting there, powdering my cap, when I realized that I couldn’t get your smile out of my head. That I’d been thinking about it for a long time before then too.” 

Chanyeol aww’s. Kyungsoo laughs. 

“It was like the best, and most awful feeling in the world.” Chanyeol opens her mouth to ask but Kyungsoo shakes her head, continuing, “I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for my best friend, how cliche is that? And, of course, just the fear that I’d ruined my friendship with you. But just thinking about you made me all...tingly inside. So that was really good.” 

Chanyeol scoots down further into the bed so she can rest her head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. Kyungsoo chuckles, but leans against Chanyeol too. 

“Then how did you-” Chanyeol starts, but Kyungsoo stops her. 

“Wait, my turn.” 

“Just one more question, then you can ask two.” Chanyeol puts her hands together and Kyungsoo shrugs. 

“Fine.” 

“What’s your realization story? And, how many girls have you been with? And are you a, um, a…virgin?” 

Kyungsoo pulls away, eyebrows furrowed and head tilted. “That’s three questions.” 

Chanyeol grins innocently and shrugs. “I just have a lot of questions,” she says, puppy eyes wide and extra sad. 

Kyungsoo laughs, captivated. “I’m so screwed.” 

Chanyeol giggles, lying down and pulling Kyungsoo down beside her. Her long limbs cocoon Kyungsoo, spooning her into her body. Kyungsoo’s heart skips a few beats before she turns, facing Chanyeol so she can start her story. 

“I fell really hard for another swimmer at a swimming camp in middle school, and that’s the only person I’ve ever been with.” 

“The USA Swimming sleepaway camp you said you used to go to?” Kyungsoo nods, and Chanyeol balks. 

“Oh my god, wait, what’s her name? Did we compete with her in high school?” 

Kyungsoo shakes her head. “She’s from Florida. I low-key looked for her at nationals but I don’t think she was there.” 

Chanyeol nods contemplatively. 

“And what about my last question?” 

Kyungsoo studies Chanyeol and finds that the longer she waits, the more nervous Chanyeol looks - her leg starts twitching and she keeps glancing away from Kyungsoo and forcing herself to look back again. 

“Why? Does it matter?” 

Chanyeol breathes in sharply. “I don’t know. It could? I know people who’ve had sex need it more because people who haven’t had it don’t really know what they’re missing…” 

“Whether I’ve had it or not, I’m never going to push you to do anything more than what you want. We can go as slow as you want, I don’t care. You don’t ever have to feel burdened about being with me. You should know that.” Kyungsoo’s voice is gentle, but the hand around Chanyeol’s is firm. 

A shy smile forming on Chanyeol’s lips. She shuffles closer to give Kyungsoo a soft kiss. 

“But to satisfy your curiosity, yes. I’m still a virgin.” 

Chanyeol tries to look unaffected as she nods her head, but Kyungsoo can clearly see the hint of a grin forming. 

“You like that I’m not experienced, don’t you?” 

Chanyeol’s laugh turns into a yawn and she smiles sheepishly. “Sorry! I just like that we’re on the same level when it comes to this, kind of.” 

Kyungsoo rolls her eyes, but chuckles anyway. “You’re weird.” 

“You like it.” 

“Unfortunately.” 

Chanyeol gasps, and Kyungsoo kisses her again. 

The LED clock on Chanyeol’s nightstand reads 4:30am by the time Kyungsoo and Chanyeol drift off to sleep on Chanyeol’s bed, heads tilted together, legs tangled, holding hands.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Title poorly ripped off from "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging". 
> 
> 2\. Part of me wants to get back into writing Chansoo again... Which is why I finally decided to upload this I guess. I kinda miss my boys a lot
> 
> 3\. Chanyeol lives in Pismo Beach, California, for those of you who are wondering. 
> 
> 4\. Also, here's a zillow link to Yixing's house cause holy shit: [be jealous](http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Pismo-Beach-CA/pmf,pf_pt/house,mobile,land_type/2101953979_zpid/26526_rid/5-_beds/3-_baths/any_days/35.197168,-120.594521,35.115486,-120.72464_rect/12_zm/).
> 
> 5\. I really like this AU I created and would love to delve into it some more of people were interested... Dunno, let me know.
> 
> 6\. Any comments or constructive criticisms would be fully appreciated.
> 
> 7\. Thank you so much for reading <3


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